MSS: Rachel Bootsma

Rachel Bootsma returns to the show shortly after placing second in the 100 backstroke at the USA Swimming nationals. She talks about the race, how it sets her up for Olympic Trials and what her training and racing strategies are for the upcoming 10 months.

Show Transcript: (Note: This is an automated service where some typos and grammatical errors may occur.)

Peter Busch: This is the Morning Swim Show for Wednesday, August 24th, 2011. I'm your host, Peter Busch -- in the FINIS monitor today is Rachel Bootsma. She just got second in the 100 backstroke at the US Nationals, putting her in the conversation for an Olympic spot next year. Rachel Bootsma joins us right now in the FINIS Monitor from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Hey, Rachel, welcome back to the show. How are you?

Rachel Bootsma: I'm good, thank you.

Peter Busch: Glad to have you on. Now I have it as a two-person race for that second spot in the 100 backstroke for the Olympic team between you and Natalie Coughlin -- not a bad conversation to be in.

Rachel Bootsma: Yeah. I was pretty excited. I didn't know how the summer wa going to go and I'm looking forward to next summer.

Peter Busch: Do you agree that you are within reach of the Olympic team now the way you swam this summer?

Rachel Bootsma: Yeah, I mean this summer was an eye opener for me. I kind of realized that it's going to be a showdown I guess at the Olympic Trials between probably about four or five of us. It could be interesting to see who makes it to the Olympics.

Peter Busch: There's still a gap between you and Coughlin and you and Missy Franklin for that matter. The reason I give Missy the edge for the top spot is she's young just like you, getting faster. Natalie has been the best backstroker in the world for a long time now or one of the best so it's impressive to say the least that she's maintaining that speed. You're obviously getting faster as well so I foresee closing the gap a little bit more by next year. Tell us how you trained and how you're going to be focusing on next year's Trials?

Rachel Bootsma: I mean at Nationals my race wasn't perfect by all means, I have a lot to work on. But this coming year I'm really going to be focusing on just the little details of my stroke and my last 25 is where I'm really starting to fade and that's where I really need to focus on and just the little things - my dolphin kicks, my strokes - just trying to perfect those to get ready for next year but I'm not making any major changes in my stroke, I'm just trying to get it better from where it was this summer.

Peter Busch: You made some headlines last year when you broke the national high school record in the 100 backstroke, and the Minnesota High School Championships are in the fall, right, November?

Rachel Bootsma: Yeah.

Peter Busch: So will you shave and taper for that or are you going to try and train straight through the trials?

Rachel Bootsma: Actually I'm not doing high school swimming this year. I made a decision with my coach to really just focus on the coming year and I'm going to the Pan American Games in October so I'm really focusing on that. And I just decided to just really, really focus for the Olympic Trials and see what happens there so I just decided not to do high school swimming.

Peter Busch: So that national high school record, the 51.5 will have to stay where it is right now?

Rachel Bootsma: Yeah, unfortunately. It was a tough decision but I think it was the best decision for my training and competition schedule so we'll see if it still stands next year.

Peter Busch: Well we know you're faster than that. You went 50.7 at the juniors a little bit after that meet. It doesn't count as the high school record. But are you going to be a little bummed if somebody else takes that record when you know you could have gone faster?

Rachel Bootsma: Probably not, records are meant to be broken, and I was thrilled that I could uphold that record for even a year if it does get broken. I won't be bummed at all. It was an honor to be able to hold it for a short amount of time if it does get broken.

Peter Busch: You've got NCAA records to worry about soon, right? You'll be competing against Cindy Tran. Now that you're going to be her teammate you just committed to Cal, congratulations.

Rachel Bootsma: Thank you.

Peter Busch: Cal's becoming like USC is for breaststrokers. There are just too many backstrokers. Do you think like – well, there's no guarantee I'm even going to lead off the medley relay if I go there?

Rachel Bootsma: Yeah, I mean it's definitely a thought but for me it's a bigger thing to be part of a team and to be able to race the best backstrokers in the nation. I want to be able to push myself in practice to be compared to all the best swimmers in the world and I think if my backstroke is going to get better it's going to get better at Cal so I'm really excited and if I do get to do the relay, that's great and if I don't I'm there to support the team and just hope we come out on top.

Peter Busch: Well, that's exciting. I know it's a tough decision to make. Did you make it this early because you just didn't want to have to deal with it while you were in school?

Rachel Bootsma: Yeah and I think - I mean all along I think I knew that I wanted to go to Cal and I wanted to just get it out of the way because it felt right at the moment and it still feels right right now and I'm just glad to go into my senior year knowing where I'm going to go and just be happy with my decision.

Peter Busch: You live near University of Minnesota which is definitely an up and coming program. Was there any pressure to stay at home?

Rachel Bootsma: Not really. I mean I knew I didn't really want to stay at home. I wanted to get out and try new things and meet new people and obviously the weather was also a factor - the Minnesota cold is not my thing. No, there really wasn't pressure for me to go the U of M, especially not from my parents, they just want me to be happy wherever I go and I know I'll be the happiest I can be at Cal and I'm so thrilled to be a part of that team.

Peter Busch: Tell us about how you trained there and your coach and how long you've been swimming over there?

Rachel Bootsma: I've been swimming with my coach Kate Lundsten for eight years now and I've been with my club team, the Aquajets Swim Team for 10 years I think so it's been a really good fit. We really focus on technique and we don't really do a lot of distance and it's always fun and we're always doing something new. It's a unique place to train. I never get bored and my team mates are my best friends, my family and it's a really great place.

Peter Busch: As kind of a high school phenom swimmer yourself can you imagine what kind of pressure Missy Franklin's feeling right now or is there really no pressure because she's just having fun?

Rachel Bootsma: I mean if I was her I would be feeling all the pressure in the world but she is an amazing competitor and an amazing person. She handles it so well; you can't even tell if she's nervous or not. I think she just loves to compete and get out there and race and just basically have fun - that's what swimming is to her - and I admire that so much and it's really incredible but I can imagine there's a lot of pressure that comes with where she is at and what she is doing the next year but I think that she's capable of handling anything that the swimming world can throw at her so she's quite an amazing swimmer in person.

Peter Busch: We're going to have her on the show later this week. Any good Ready Room stories to surprise her with?

Rachel Bootsma: No, we're really good friends and she's always a joy to be around and I love being with her and she's an amazing person.

Peter Busch: Well you both seem to have a very good positive attitude about life and swimming so that's great to see. America's got a great young generation of swimmers. Rachel, congratulations and all the success this summer, it was a lot of fun to watch and we look forward to watching you throughout the next year.

Rachel Bootsma: Thank you so much.

Peter Busch: All right, that's Rachel Bootsma joining us in the FINIS Monitor today. That's it for today's show. I'm Peter Busch, reminding you to keep your head down at the finish.